Researcher, curator and writer living between Berlin and (untill 2011) Damascus. Currently, I hold a doctoral position at the university of Geneva, focusing on the emerging contemporary art scene in Syria in the context of the critical art tradition of the country.
With a background in Near Eastern archaeology and art history, my main focus since graduating in 2000 towards the reception of Islamic and Arab art and culture in Western high and popular culture, early Islamic visual art, contemporary artistic and cultural practice in the Arab world and its Diaspora, hybridity and inter/transculturality.
I am part of the curatorial team of the Visual Arts Festival Damascus, an independent art festival launched in 2010 and re-conconceived as a nomadic event from 2012 onwards. In 2012 the festival was hosted by the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The 2013 edition will be hosted by DEPO Istanbul.
Ongoing research and projects are:
"FORUM for new arab art". A platform for new artistic developments in the Arab countries and beyond. Organized in collaboration with Art-Lab Berlin.
"Urban Tribes". An investigation of a global dance and music phenomenon in contemporary urban youth culture